I've noticed after doing deadlifts, not directly after but maybe 12-24 hrs after, my lower back goes 'numb' after sitting for awhile.

Now I say 'numb' because that is what it feels like. I noticed it today getting out of my car after driving home from work and I pulled yesterday.

I can still feel my fingers if I poke it and pain if I pinch it, but my shirt brushing up against it feels 'numb'. That is the best way I can describe it.

I never notice it after squats and good mornings or olympic pulls, and its been going on for awhile while. I've gotten stronger since it started, so it hasn't affected my lifting, to the best of my knowledge.

I'm wondering if anybody else has experienced this.

Trying a pulled out of my ass diagnosis, it could be a pinched nerve, but the fact that the sensation is localized to the lower back is peculiar, and I'm not sure how a pinched nerve would effect gym performance. I'm thinking it hasn't effect my lifting at all, but I'm not sure a pinched nerve would.

Also, if I were to get this checked out, what kind of tests do you think will be performed. Since, it hasn't bothered anything or interfered w/ my lifting or daily activities, I'd prefer to not drop a bunch of cash on DOMS or something similar. If it will be cheap to get it checked out, I'd rather do that and not worry about having a messed up back later on down the road.

You don’t have any symptoms anywhere else? It’s common for people with pinched nerves in the lumbar and sacral region to have tingling down the legs. This is what I experienced when I recently pinched a nerve.

This might mean nothing, but it’s something to think about: Poking your back with your fingers and having your shirt brush up against it are really the same type of stimulus (pressure). Since you can feel one but not the other, you seem to have a heightened threshold for sensing pressure in the skin of your lower back region. That MIGHT indicate that there’s an issue with the nerves innervating that region of skin, but it could probably also be a million other things that I’m not aware of.

In terms of actually getting it checked out, I think all they’d be able to do is imaging tests to determine if you have a bulge in an intervertebral disc that’s pushing up against a nerve. But since you never mentioned any pain, tingling, or symptoms that weren’t localized, I doubt it would be something they could even discern. You’d probably also have to drop a lot of cash in order to have those tests performed. Then again, they might think it’s a different issue (not a pinched nerve), and that might warrant other types of tests that I’m not aware of.

Here’s a little test: if you lightly touched the area with a piece of cotton with your eyes closed, can you feel it? Probably best if someone did this to you versus you doing it on yourself this way you can get an accurate reading. The reason you feel pressure but not the shirt brushing is that these are two completely different sensations that your body interprets. Whenever I hear numbness i immediately think nerve even if there aren’t symptoms radiating to the leg (because this is not always case with some people).

Another to consider is local lack of blood flow (kinda like if you tied a rubber band around your finger and it began to get numb and cold) but for what reason this would happen i don’t know especially if it only after deadlifts.

Sorry. Couldn’t help it. Seriously though, you might consider how long it lasts. If it lasts about a day and goes away, I personally wouldn’t worry too much. But when in doubt, go see a doc. Anything to do with the nervous system is worth being careful with.

Thanks for the replies. I squatted today w/o any back problems except for maybe some residual fatigue after pulling heavy on Thursday after not pulling for a couple weeks.

Its really strange as lately I’ve noticed the numbness after deadlifts only, that fades when DOMS kicks in after about 18-24hrs like clockwork. I’ll wake up the day after lifting feeling chipper and ready to go, then late to mid afternoon I get ready to take off from work and I’ll notice myself getting sore and stiff.